Cotton cleaner and drier



3 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 23, 1954 J. E. MELTON COTTON CLEANER AND DRIERFiled Aug. 4, 1949 EZZ Zan INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

Nov. 23, 1954 Filed Aug. 4, 1949 J. E. MELTON 2,694,833 COTTON CLEANERAND DRIER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 JEM QZZL INVENTOR 1 l I BY l l 4 e ATTORNEYS.

Nov. 23, 1954 J, E MELTON 2,694,833

COTTON CLEANER AND DRIER Filed Aug. 4, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 l A nATTORNEYS.,

United States Patent O COTTON CLEANER AND DRIER .lames Eddie Melton,Arcola, Miss. Application August 4, 1949, Serial No. 108,549

Claims. (Cl. 19-72) This invention relates to ginning apparatus, andmore particularly has reference to a multi-unit cotton drier andcleaner.

An important object of the present invention is to provide apparatus ofthe character stated capable of being constructed in one cylinder units,which can be assembled into a single structure in which all the unitsare connected to provide a continuous passage for damp and rough cotton.

Another important object is to provide cotton cleaning and dryingapparatus wherein selected cylinder units can be by-passed where it isnot desired or necessary that the cotton traverse all the cylinders ofthe structure.

Another important object is to provide apparatus of the type statedwherein trash will be deposited through the cylinder walls into atrash-receiving chamber surrounding all the cylinders, with said trashbeing drawn by air suction into a receiver and removed from thestructure.

Still another object is to provide novel means, in a structure of thetype stated, in the nature of hinged air baffles adapted to channelizethe movement of said trash past the cylinders of the structure, in amanner which will prevent air suspended trash from being drawn backthrough the walls of the cylinders.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details ofconstruction and combinations of parts, hereinafter more fully describedand pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may bemade in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing fromthe spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is a view of the cotton cleaner and drier partly in sideelevation and partly in Vertical longitudinal section.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation.

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section on line 3 3 of Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail section on an enlarged scale, taken online 4-4 of Fig. 2 and showing a baffle control means.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary rear elevation showing the cotton dischargemeans.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the entire structure can besupported by an external rectangular box-like angle iron frame 5extending around and rigidly secured to the air tight outer casing 6 ofsheet metal material and also of rectangular box-like configuration.

The outer casing 6 can be of any desired height, and in the presentinstance is of a height suiiicient to enclose in superposed spacedrelation a plurality of horizontally extending cylinders generallydesignated 7, 8. 9 and 10. In the present instance, four cylinders areillustrated. However, there can be less or more cylinders as desired,the construction being such as to permit, at the option of the user, theuse of any selected number of cylinders.

All the cylinders are of substantially similar design. The cylinder 7 istypical and includes a solid top portion 11 of sheet metal material anda foraminous side and bottom portion 12 which can be of ordinary wiremesh so as to permit the passage, through the cylinder wall of trasgrit, and other foreign particles while preventing the loss of anycotton through said wall.

Extending horizontally between the opposite sides of 2,694,833 VPatented Nov. 23, 1954 the external frame 5 are the angle iron bearingmembers 13 that comprise a portion of the frame and serve to support thebearings 14 in which are journaled the opposite ends of propeller shafts15 that extend through the respective cylinders and which are rotated athigh speed by means of a belt 16 extending from a suitable source ofpower, not shown, and passing around the pulley 17 secured to thepropeller shafts 15.

Spaced longitudinally of the shaft 15 within the cylinder 7 are thespirally arranged propellers 18 of common pitch. Spirally arrangedpropellers 19 of common pitch, but pitched oppositely to the propellers1S, are mounted Within the cylinder S. Within the cylinder 9,thepropellers are arranged as in the case of the cylinder 7, and in the(cylinler 10 the propellers are arranged as in the cylin- Thus, withinthe cylinder 7, rotation of the shaft 15 will cause the propellers toset up an air current extending from right to left of the cylinder asseen in Fig. l. Within the cylinder 8 the air current will be from leftto right, and the same alternating arrangement is carried out down tothe bottom of the apparatus.

At the discharge end of the cylinder 7, I provide a duct 17 extendingfrom the bottom of said cylinder to the top of the inlet end of thecylinder 3. A duct 8 extends from the discharge end of the cylinder 8 tothe inlet end of the cylinder 9, and a duct 9' extends from thedischarge end of the cylinder 9 to the inlet end of the cylinder 10.

For the purpose of feeding cotton to be processed to the cylinder 7, Imount in communication with the inlet end of said cylinder the inletduct 20 through which cotton is moved by a blast of heated air. For thepurpose of removing from the apparatus cotton which has been processedtherethrough, I mount in communication with the discharge end of thecylinder 10 the outlet duct 21 extending to a main outlet conduit 22 inwhich a suction will be set up. Concurrently with the setting up of saidsuction, air will be forced under pressure through inlet duct Ztl thusto set up a current of air moving from ,the inlet to the discharge endof the apparatus. The cotton, moving into said cylinder 7, will befluffed and agitated by the action of the propellers, which not onlywill act to set up an air current moving the cotton from the inlet tothe outlet end of the cylinder, but also will agitate and stir thecotton considerably so that the cotton is caused to be exposed fully tothe action of the hot air blast with which it is forced into thecylinder.

It may also be noted that the propellers 18 not only will set up an aircurrent which moves the cotton from one end of the cylinder to theother, but also, will cause air to be fanned out through the foraminousside and bottom portion 12 of the cylinder, and this Will expel trashand dirt present within the cotton, so that said trash moving throughthe cylinder wall gravitates into the space surrounding the cylinderswithin the outer casing, said space dening a trash receiving chamber.

Continuing, the cotton, after it has been acted upon within the cylinder7, drops through the passageway 7' into the cylinder 8 and now will bemoved from left to right, with the same propeller action as hereinbeforedescribed. Additional trash and foreign particles will be expelledthrough the cylinder wall, and additionally, the cotton will be ilulfedup and dried by the air currents. The cotton subsequently drops throughthe duct `8', and moves from right to left of the cylinder 9, beingacted upon in said cylinder in the same manner as previously described,and thence moved through the duct 9 into the cylinder 10, and thenceoutwardly through the outlet ducts 21 and 22 in which, as previouslymenltioned, air suction is set up for the purpose of causing acontinuous air current throughout all the cylinders, and for'the purposeof removing the processed cotton cleaned and dried by the apparatus.

If desired, any selected number of cylinders can be y-passed, and as anexample of how this can be done, it may be noted that I have in thepresent instance slidably mounted within the duct 8 the slide 23 thatcloses said passageway so as to prevent communication between thecylinders 8 and 9. At the same time, I open a slide 24 so as to opencommunication between the discharge end of the cylinder S and a by-passoutlet duct 25 communicating as at 26 with the main outlet duct 22.

It may be noted that although I have illustrated said slide arrangementas applied below the second cylinder in the present instance, it will beunderstood that the ducts 7 and 9 also can and would ordinarily beequipped with means for closing oif communication with all cylindersbelow, so as to cause the cotton to be moved directly through a by-passduct into the main outlet duct. ln this way, inspection of the cotton inadvance can permit determination to be made as to the amount ofprocessing necessary therefor, and an appropriate number of cylinderscan be closed oit from operation. Or, a permanent slide mounting can beeffected between any two selected cylinders in the apparatus, permittingall or a predetermined number of the cylinders to be used as desired. j

Referring now to Fig. 3, I mount above each of the cylinders S, 9, and1t) downwardly diverging lixed dellectors 27 that extend downwardlyapproximately to the uppermost portion of the screened portion 12 ofeach cylinder. To the lower edges of the fixed deflectors 27 l hingedlyconnect the baflies 28 which extend downwardly along opposite sides ofeach cylinder past the lowermost portion of said cylinder. The hingedbafes 2S are capable of adjustable positioning, and to this end, lattach the lower portion of each hinged baie an operating rod 29, andthe operating rods 29 associated with each cylinder are connected to ashort link 30 and a long link 31 mounted outside the casing as seen inFig. 2. For the purpose of permitting lateral movement of the rods 29,thus to adjust the hinged ba-les toward or away from their associatedcylinder, I provide in the casing wall the arcuate slots 32, and theends of the operating rods, projecting through these slots, areconnected to the links as described above.

The other ends of the links 3i) and 31 are pivotally connected to theopposite ends of a double bell crank lever 33 the medial portion ofwhich pivots upon a bracket 34 xedly secured to the external frame 5. Adouble bell crank lever 33 is provided for each set of links 30, 31, andall the superposed levers 33 are secured to a reciprocable operating rod3S pivotally connected at its lower end to the medial portion of anoperating handle 36 pivotally secured at one end to the frame 5. Thehandle 36 is capable of being locked in any position to which swung, thehandle 36 traversing an apertured arcuate segment 37, whereby a bolt 38can be extended through registering openings in the handle 36 andsegment 37 for the purpose of locking the handle in selected positionsof swingable adjustment.

By reason of this construction, it may be noted that by adjusting thehandle 36 upwardly, the rod 35 will be moved upwardly, and the rods 29associated with each cylinder will be swung inwardly so as to swinginwardly the baffles 23 to which they are connected. It will be seenthat this results in adjusting the space between each air baie 28 andthe adjacent casing wall. Thus, when said space is narrowed by outwardadjustment of the baffles 2S, this will cause the cylinder next above todischarge less air through the cylinder wall 12, and to cause more airto be moved in a current longitudinally of the cylinder. By adjustingthe baffles 23 away from the casing wall, said space is enlarged, andnow more air will be permitted to move through the foraminous wall 12 ofthe cylinder next above. An effective air control, which varies asdesired the relationship between air moving longitudinally through thecylinders and air moving outwardly through the cylinder walls into thetrash chamber, is thus provided controlling the ratio of one of theseair movements to the other.

At the lower end of the trash chamber I provide the semi-cylindricalreceiver 39, into which said trash moves, and a feed screw 40 rotates inthis chamber for the purpose of moving said trash outwardly into a trashdischarge duct 41 in which an air suction is set up.

lt may be noted that in operation, there will be air suction within thetrash discharge duct 41 and air suction within the cotton discharge duct22 both of which extend from the lower portion of the casing. At thesame time, air is forced into the upper end of the casing through thecotton inlet duct 20.

This arrangement will cause a mass of air to be moved continuously fromtop to bottom of the casing and within this downwardly moving air mass,there will be a separate tortuous air current caused by the oppositelypitched series of propellers. As previously mentioned, the ratio of thetortuous air current to the downwardly moving air mass surrounding saidcurrent is varied as desired by adjustment of the bales 28. A thoroughcleaning, drying, and ufing of cotton processed through the apparatusresults from this arrangement.

What is claimed is:

l. A cotton cleaning and drying apparatus comprising a plurality ofserially connected cylinders arranged within a casing in spaced parallelrelation one above the other, each cylinder having a solid top wall andforaminous side and bottom walls, means for moving cotton axiallythrough adjacent cylinders in opposite directions, means for agitatingthe cotton as it moves through each cylinder, means for directing ow ofair both axially and radially of said cylinders including a pair ofadjustable deectors pivotally mounted adjacent the top of each cylinderbelow the uppermost cylinder, means for collecting and removing foreignmatter separate from the cotton and means for removing cotton from thelowermost cylinder.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim l having means for by-passing one ormore cylinders below the first cylinder.

3. A cotton cleaning and drying apparatus, a casing in which are mounteda plurality of cylinders disposed one above the other in spaced parallelrelation, ducts connecting said cylinders so that the cotton will flowthrough adjacent cylinders in opposite directions, a shaft extendingaxially of each cylinder and journalled for rotation therein, aplurality of propellers non-rotatably mounted on each shaft for movingcotton through each cylinder and for creating a ow of air axially ofeach cylinder, the propellers in each adjacent cylinder being oppositelypitched from the propellers in the next preceding cylinder, eachcylinder having a solid top wall and foraminous side and bottom walls,baies adjustably mounted adjacent the top of each cylinder below the topcylinder for adjusting the rate of flow of air radially of suchcylinders, additional pneumatic means for delivering air through saidcasing in a vertical direction, means for collecting and removing wasteremoved from the cotton and means for removing cotton from the lowermostcylinder.

4. A cotton cleaning and drying apparatus, a casing in which are mounteda plurality of cylinders disposed one above the other in spaced parallelrelation, ducts connecting said cylinders so that the cotton will owthrough adjacent cylinders in opposite directions, a shaft extendingaxially of each cylinder and journalled for rotation therein, aplurality of propellers non-rotatably mounted on each shaft for movingcotton through each cylinder and for creating a ow of air axially ofeach cylinder, the propellers in each adjacent cylinder being oppositelypitched from the propellers in the next preceding cylinder, eachcylinder having a solid top wall and foraminous side and bottom walls,bafes adjustably mounted adjacent the top of each cylinder below the topcylinder for adjusting the rate of ilow of air radially of suchcylinders, additional pneumatic means for delivering air through saidcasing in a vertical direction, means for collecting and removing wasteremoved from the cotton and means for removing cotton from the lowermostcylinder and means for by passing one or more cylinders below the rstcylinder.

5. A cotton cleaning and drying apparatus, a casing in which are mounteda plurality of cylinders disposed one above the other in spaced parallelrelation, ducts connecting said cylinder so that the cotton will flowthrough adjacent cylinders in opposite directions, a shaft extendingaxially of each cylinder and journalled for rotation therein, aplurality of propellers non-rotatably mounted on each shaft for movingcotton through each cylinder and for creating a flow of air axially ofeach cylinder, the propellers in each adjacent cylinder being oppositelypitched from the propellers in the next preceding cylinder, eachcylinder having a solid top wall and foraminous side and bottom walls,battles adjustably mounted adjacent the top of each cylinder below thetop cylinder for adjusting the rate of flow of air radially of suchcylinders, additional pneumatic means for delivering air through saidcasing in a vertical direction, means for collecting and removing wasteremoved from the cotton and means for removing cotton from the lowermostcylinder and for deecting the waste removed by one cylinder away Numberfrom the sides of the next lower cylinder. 559,237 745,743 ReferencesCited in the le of this patent 1,147,719 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 gggNumber Name Date 2,274,385

408,085 Collyer July 30, 1889 6 Name Date Washburne Apr. 28, 1896 ThayerDec.r 1, 1903 Harden July 27, 1915 Streun Feb. 16, 1937 Henry Jan. 18,1938 Schwartz et al Feb. 24, 1942

